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Swinton and Visnjic truly own the movie, with the rest of the cast adding little more than plot contrivances. Jonathan Tucker is sulky as the son, surprisingly given very little to do. Lucas is impacting as the creepy Darby given only minutes of screen time. Raymond J. Barry, Alek’s crime boss, is a mere caricature, like Peter Donat as Margaret’s father-in-law, who is mainly waiting idly on the sidelines to provide brief moments of comic relief.

Director-writer duo David Siegel and Scott McGehee are stronger at directing than writing, with nice visuals. They deliver a well-paced thriller that grabs your attention and seldom loses its grip. Very loosely based off of the Elisabeth Sanxay Holding novel The Blank Wall (previously adapted as the 1949 James Mason-Joan Bennett starrer The Reckless Moment), the duo seem to be attempting more than just a thriller. Whatever that is exactly I am not quite sure, but at a perfect 101 minute running time, this suspenseful story with a heaping dose of drama succeeds at being an entertaining ride. With us for being exciting and with a theme that is always timely in Hollywood of a parent protecting their child even if it means a dead body (which might be even more popular today than ever before), I wouldn't be surprised if The Deep End resurfaced as a remake today.

Swinton’s last film before her career truly skyrocketed with the one-two punch of Vanilla Sky and Adaptation., The Deep End was a surprising hit by independent standards for Fox Searchlight, a company starting to find its stride.

Watching the trailer, I couldn’t help but think of another 2001 surprise thriller released almost exactly one month later, the underwhelming Don’t Say a Word. Pulling a bait-and-switch trick, showing off The Deep End as a fast-paced, flashy, bloody thriller, audiences and critics seemed to bite. Rated at 90% on Rottentomatoes among the Top Critics with stellar reviews creating some Oscar buzz for Swinton (it is good, but not that good), the public was willing to buy tickets and powered the total box office to $8.8 million ($12.5 million adjusted). Released August 10, 2001, the film didn’t make any box office dent until Labor Day weekend, where over the extended frame, it grossed almost $1.8 million in 326 theaters. Two weeks later, the film hit its top location count at 412. Doing well for a little thriller made on the cheap with a budget of $3 million, the film didn’t burn out until the last week of September when it had its first big fall – the same weekend Don’t Say a Word was released.

Nominated and winning some awards on the film festival circuit (almost all for Swinton), the biggest nomination The Deep End received was for Best Actress in a Drama at the Golden Globes (she lost out to Sissy Spacek for In the Bedroom although fellow nominee Halle Berry won the Oscar for Monster’s Ball in the end).

With a decent screenplay improved upon by terrific acting and better-than-needed directing, The Deep End turns a shallow opportunity for thrills into a much deeper and satisfying emotional adventure.

Verdict: With Us
7 out of 10

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